A University of Toronto professor and a PhD student have developed a new invisibility cloak  at least on radar.

Computer engineering Prof. George Eleftheriades and PhD student Michael Selvanayagam are now in talks with the Canadian military to see if their new approach to making things invisible to radar can be applied in the field.

It could possibly hide military vehicles or have uses in surveillance operations.

In addition to the Armed Forces, it could possibly be used to help ease the movement of signals from cellular base stations.

We see a physical object by detecting electromagnetic waves scattered from the object, Eleftheriades explained Tuesday. A device that can correct or cancel that scattering would take the notion of a magic invisibility cloak from the realm of science fiction to reality.

In order to cloak objects from radar, the researchers surround it with many small antennas that radiate an electromagnetic field. The radiated field cancels out any waves scattering off the object, making it appear invisible.

Eleftheriades and Selvanayagam have been working on a functional invisibility cloak since 2006, but earlier efforts yielded no practical uses.

The system can also alter the radiowave signature of a cloaked object, making it appear bigger, smaller or even shifting it in space.

Yesterday, upon the stair,
I met a man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
I wish, I wish he’d go away...

When I came home last night at three
The man was waiting there for me
But when I looked around the hall
I couldn’t see him there at all!
Go away, go away, don’t you come back any more!
Go away, go away, and please don’t slam the door... (slam!)

Last night I saw upon the stair
A little man who wasn’t there
He wasn’t there again today
Oh, how I wish he’d go away...

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